A pleasant working environment makes a big difference to your career satisfaction. Ranstad’s annual ranking of the best places to work provides a useful reference if you’re considering moving on from your current job.
Keyboard picture from Shutterstock
Randstad’s list, which is based on nominations from employers and rates employers based on a variety of criteria including learning opportunities, job security and work-life balance, lists the following 20 organisations:
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[left]
1. ABC
2. Virgin Australia
3. BAE Systems
4. Channel Seven
5. Qantas
6. Department of Immigration & Citizenship
7. Department of Health & Ageing
8. Newcrest Mining
9. Coca-Cola Amatil
10. GHD
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11. Department of Defence
12. Australia Post
13. Rio Tinto
14. Wesfarmers
15. WorleyParsons
16. BHP
17. Nestle
18. Lion
19. Westfield
20. Computershare[/right]
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For IT pros, office culture is often a minor part of the equation; the ability to expand your skills or work on a major project can often be the deciding factor. But it’s worth considering. The list cover a range of employer types, and includes government organisations (which haven’t been allowed to nominate in previous years). Working in a challenged industry clearly isn’t a problem in itself, since airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas both made the list.
Is Randstad’s listing definitive? Clearly not; no system based on self-nominations is. BRW produces a similar annual list, which features rather more tech companies. We’d love to see a list of Australia’s worst employers, but I doubt too many companies would nominate themselves.
If you’ve worked in any of these companies, share the experience (good or bad) in the comments.
I’m going to be ‘one of those guys’ and suggest that BAE as an employer may not be for everyone. They develop systems and weapons for warfare. Until fairly recently they also produced land-mines and cluster munitions. That may come into the consciences of prospective applicants…
I have a contact or two at the tight-knit NetApp, which regularly sit at the pointy end of ‘best employer’ lists. Apparently they look after their staff very well.
Totally agree. People may have issues with some companies policies to sensitive issues, however I think we can all agree that a company that manufactures weapons of war is one to take extra consideration before applying for a job.
BHP a nice place to work…?
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/leadership/050617-inside-bhp-billiton-s-11-page-office-rulebook-do-clean-desks-really-boost-productivity.html
Ooo yeah, got to love finding your employer in the top ten…
And i thoroughly agree @jake_d BHP is just a bit funny like that…
The problem with these sorts of rankings is that they’re done by outsiders based on public statements of corporate policy. The reality of how those policies are actually implemented is often very very different. Personally I would put absolutely no value on them.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in those results, and the fact they’re compiled by Randstad makes me even more dubious about them.
Either this is total bunk or other workplaces are somehow even worse than these ones, which is too depressing to be true.
My current employer comes in safely inside the top ten here, and about the only thing I’d suggest we lead the charge on is attracting and retaining people who love being paid far too much for doing far too little, and poorly at that.
(Needless to say, I’m working on an exit strategy…)
I work at Channel 9, and not to be the bash-your-direct-competitor kind of person, but we’ve had a few people who have been there and since moved to 9 to say the office culture is much better here.
But this is all word of mouth and hearsay.